Evolution of Washing Machines – A brief history

Evolution of Washing Machines

Without any doubt, washing machines are proved to be much of use to humans. With growing technology, our washing machines have also evolved with time to meet the customer’s needs. Washing machine in itself has a d=fascinating journey and in today’s world, it is hard to even imagine our lives without this simple machine called washer. From top load to front load and all popular brands like Whirlpool, Samsung, LG, Electrolux, Zanussi, Bosch, Godrej, Intex, IFB and many more, who brings best of the best technologies to us, we have formed a great dependency on these machines and we most certainly have to admit that these machines make our lives easier.

A machine what we define as the washer today has just been around for mere 200 years. The very first washing machine was invented back in 1850-60. So how were lives before the invention of this magical machine that cleans our clothes? Read further to know the interesting journey of our beloved washer.

Ancient times:

In early ages, people used to pound their clothes against rough surfaces like rocks and used to rub sand over clothes in order to remove dirt from it. It was the Roman Empire that developed a prototype of soap, it was a clear mixture of ash and contained traces of fat from various animals. This is something similar to what is called the crude soap in modern times.

Often people found the effective way to remove stains and dirt from their clothes was to immerse it in the boiling water and the beat the clothes with a wooden paddle or wooden bar. This method proved much more effective than the traditional grinding against rocks.

A much evolution in the area of cleaning clothes came with the invention of the metal boards upon which clothes could be washed, prior to this invention all the washing boards were typically made up of wood were in use. It was observed that people used to carry heaps of dirty laundry to the nearby water source like a lake, pond or rivers. Most often this turned into a ritual where the entire village used to take part in such cleaning practices. Not to mention the workload but this method also usually contaminated river bodies.

Invention of the very first washing machine:

A renowned scientist from Germany named Jacob Christian Schaffer invented this wonderful machine in the year 1767. The first ever patent to be filed for the washing machine was in the year 1797 by Nathaniel Briggs. The roller washing was invented in the year 1843. In 1851 and 1861, James King redesigned the washer and this can be noted as a beginning of the evolution of modern time’s washing machines.

Electric Machines

The true evolution began from wooden machines to the steam run washers till what we have today, the electric washing machines. The steam run machines usually consisted of boilers and sterilization units. In 1901, the very first electric washing machine was invented by Alva John Fisher.in this model the wooden tanks were replaced with the metal ones.

Automation of Washers

One of the greatest leaps in the field of the washing machine was the introduction of semi-automated and fully-automated washing machines. An automated washer helped reducing human efforts furthermore. The programmer would start the washer, the combination of the pressure switch and the solenoid valve is used to regulate the water supply to the machine. While a simple thermostat was used to maintain water boiling temperature, the timer would control other operations. Though the concept of automation was introduced in 1950’s and 60’s, it proved to be a costly affair and hence was not widely used.

Today’s Era:

As time passed the concept of having washing machine spread widely, thanks to its constant evolution and miniaturized size and proven efficiency the concept of washing machine spread widely across the globe and found huge user acceptance.

Today, without any doubt a washer has become an integral part of every household in metropolitan cities. It had made our lives easier, simpler and doing our dirty laundry is one less thing to worry, thanks to our beloved washing machines.